How To Rent eBooks Online and Save Money

In the last few years the popularity of eBooks has exploded. The advantages are clear: You can carry as many books with you as you want. You can simply download every book you like and instantly start reading. Instead of having to wait for the book to arrive by mail.

However, one thing hadn’t changed, if you wanted to rent a book you were still forced to use hardcopy books. Until now that is. Amazon.com recently announced the start of a new program where you can rent eBooks.

Currently you can only rent etextbooks. But it is quite likely that they’ll soon expand it so you can rent eBooks in other categories as well.

Why should I rent eBooks?

I can hear you thinking, but why would I want to rent eBooks? The most important reason for why you should rent eBooks is simple: to save money. How often have you bought a book and then read it within a week, never to reread it?

When you rent eBooks this no longer matters. You can just rent it for 30 days, finish reading it within that time and simply remove it afterwards. This is far cheaper than buying it for full price in the store. As you can clearly see below.

Another example is eTextbooks you use in college or university. Most often you simply don’t need it anymore after the semester or trimester is over. So why would you want to pay for a book you’ll use for a few months at best? When you rent eTextbooks you can easily save 60-80% on the regular price. While getting exactly the same in return!

In short, for most of the reading you do, you can easily save a lot of money if you simply rent your eBooks.

Where do I rent eBooks?

As mentioned before, Amazon.com is the first and, currently, the only large retailer that has a program for renting eBooks in place. Luckily Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world and their eBook assortment is massive. They are also the producer of the Kindle, the most popular ereader. Which means you can be sure that the eBooks you rent will work.

You can currently only rent eTextbooks. But this is likely to change as soon as the word gets out that you can save money by renting eBooks.

Why rent eBooks at Amazon?

Save money: Save up to 80% of the normal price of the eBook

Decide how long you rent: From 30 days to 360 days, you decide how long you want it. You can extend the time by as little as a day. Or simply buy the eBook if you want to keep it after all.

Keep your notes: Do you like to keep annotations and highlights in your eBooks? Don’t worry you can always revisit your notes and highlights through Amazon.com

How to rent eBooks?

Simply search for the eBook you want to rent on Amazon.com and select the rent eBooks option. After that a new page will open where you can select until which date you’d like to rent the eBook. You can rent eBooks for a period of 30 to 360 days.

You decide how long you need the eBook. If you later find out you need it for longer you can simply extend the time. Or buy it for the normal price whenever you want.

Once you’ve chosen the time you want to rent the eBook you simply go to checkout. Or you can use the “Rent now with 1-click” button.

Are you tired of spending hundreds if not thousands on books every year? Especially when you use most books for a few months at best. And once the course is done they usually just collect dust.

Perhaps you’ve already started using eBooks, which is a great way to save money. However there’s an even better solution that has recently become available. You can rent eTextbooks.

It’s just as easy as buying eBooks. It has the same benefits, but you can save even more money. Find out more about renting eTextbooks below.

How much can I save if I rent eTextbooks?

Simply put: a lot. Just switching from hardcover to an eBook version can save you 30-50%. Switching from buying eTextbooks to renting eTextbooks will save you another 50-80%.

An example: Let’s take an average of $300 spend on books per trimester. If you’d rent eTextbooks instead of normal books you could easily save $200 or more per trimester.

Spending $300 on books per trimester may seem like a lot, however many studies are quite close to that figure. Some will even far exceed it.

How many eTextbooks can be rented?

Currently there are several thousand eTextbook titles that can be rented. With more titles being added every day. Most of the newer titles that are available as an eBook can be rented. With the popularity of eBooks increasing every day it is very likely that eventually all eBooks can be rented.

Where can I rent eTextbooks?

Currently Amazon.com is the only store where you can rent eTextbooks. However many retailers are likely to start offering rentals in the coming months. Once more options become available they will be covered on this site.

eTextbook rental FAQ

Can I choose the rental length?

Yes, you can choose a length of 30 all the way up to 360 days.

Can I extend the rental length?

Yes, you can extend it by as little as a day.

Can I decide to keep the eTextbook I rented?

Yes, if you decide that the book is worth keeping, you can buy it at any moment.

Do I have to buy a Kindle?

No, you can use whatever device you are currently using to read your eBooks. Amazon offers a download for every popular device on the market today.

When people first hear about being able to rent eBooks they immediately wonder about how it compares to the alternatives. In particular eBook rental vs. buying or renting new and used hardcover books as well as buying eBooks.

In this article you will find the pros and cons of every alternative when comparing it to renting eBooks. Some options can look quite good at first glance, but can actually turn out more expensive over time.

Rent eBooks or buy/rent hardcover books?

The advantages of hardcover books are that virtually every book is still available in this format.

Over time this may change as more and more eBooks are being sold every day. But currently it can’t be beaten in regards to the available selection.

Buying hardcover books

Buying hardcover books used to be a hassle where you had to go to a local bookstore. Or even to several bookstores if you were looking for a particular book.

Nowadays you can just simply buy it online at large retailers like Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Often getting it delivered to your doorstep within one or two days.

The disadvantages of hardcover books are their cost and their weight. Hardcover books are often 30-40% more expensive than their eBook version. Carrying around several textbooks gets old quickly as well.

Buying a hardcover book means you are able to sell it after you’re done using it. This can save you a lot of money, but there are several problems with this as well. For one it takes time, either you have to start using a used book marketplace or you can turn it in for a coupon at a bookstore.

The former means you have to deal with customers, their questions and a trip to the post office. While the latter option means selling your books for very little.

There is another problem with selling your old books. When a new edition comes out your books become far less valuable. For novels and such this is not really much of a problem. However when dealing with textbooks this is not the case.

Some publishers are bringing out a new or revised edition of a textbook once every two years or even more often! Often little has changed in the new edition, but customers simply want the newest version. Leaving you with a book that is suddenly worth far less.

Renting hardcover books

Some people rent their hardcover books, either through school, a local program or an online program. The problem with this option is that renting hardcover books is still fairly expensive. Without the benefit of actually owning the book afterwards.

Often the selection is limited as well. Though some schools have a great program, possible because they can buy in bulk. If this is the case at your school, simply enroll in it and let them deal with all the problems.

Buying used hardcover books

Buying used books is certainly cheaper than buying them new. There are disadvantages to buying used books though, as I’m sure you already know. Often used textbooks are outdated, dirty or they have notes and underlining throughout the book.

Another problem is that nowadays many textbooks come with a key or CD/DVD for the online part of a course. Once the first user has activated this part you can no longer access it. Forcing you to buy a loose key or CD/DVD, often at a high price.

For anything other than textbooks buying used hardcover books is a good alternative. Not as user friendly as an eBook, but the selection and price can make up for that.

Some people like the feel of a book and don’t want anything else. For everyone else though the disadvantages of hardcover books means they should at least try and rent eBooks. Not only do you save money, but time and effort as well.

Renting eBooks vs. buying eBooks

Should I rent eBooks or buy them? The answer depends on what your needs are. If you just need an eBook for a course, seminar or to brush up your knowledge you’ll be better of renting the eBook. This can save you anywhere from 50% to 80% of the cost of the eBook.

But say you want to read the eBook over the course of a year and are likely to refer to it every now and then afterwards. In this case you are better off just buying the eBook. Though you can rent the eBook first and buy it at any point afterwards.

Maybe you don’t want to keep using the book after all. Either because there’s a better alternative or you’ve learned everything you can from it.

In short, if you can rent the eBook I’d always try that option. In almost all cases it is better than the alternatives. Not just because it is cheaper, but because it is more user friendly as well. The selection is a bit limited at the moment. Though this will rapidly change once more people start to rent eBooks.

Some people like the look and feel of a hardcover book and this is certainly appreciated. Just be aware that you’re paying far more for your reading.

Currently the only retailer where you can rent eBooks is Amazon.com. Take a look for yourself and find out how much you could save!

As you may have noticed it has been several months since Amazon announced you can starting renting eBooks. Titles are being added every day, but not remotely comparable to the speed at which normal eBooks are being added.

On top of that, not a single competitor has sprung up. Several companies were interested in the renting eBooks model, Bilbary for example. However they have all shied away for now.

So in effect not much has happened in the the last few months. Which begs the question, why is it still so hard to rent eBooks? Especially when you consider how popular NetFlix has become over the last few years?

Renting eBooks hindered by hesitant publishers

The answer is simple, publishers are not interested. They are currently making a lot of money with eBook sales, so they feel they have no reason to change the system. Mainly because nobody really knows what will happen with the sales numbers after renting eBooks becomes a viable option.

Currently the only company that seems to stand a chance to change this is Amazon. They are largest online retailer in the world, the owner of the most popular eReader, the Kindle, and one, if not the, largest eBook seller. They seem to have the market power necessary to force the publishers to change.

The question is, does Amazon want to change the current system? Because they are profiting as much from the eBook sales as the publishers are. Time will tell, but it’s possible that Amazon is willing to take a chance on dropping eBook sales. As long as it means that they will become even more dominant in the growing eBook industry.

All it takes is getting one or more large publishers on board and the rest will have to follow. Hopefully this will happen before students need to start buying their books for the next year. I, for one, would welcome the savings!

If you want to try out renting eBooks, feel free to check out Amazon.com